


homin | together

by plincess_cho (ai_hao)



Series: Domestic Life | Yunho x Changmin [5]
Category: DBSK | Tohoshinki | TVfXQ | TVXQ
Genre: Author: Ai, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-13
Updated: 2016-10-13
Packaged: 2018-08-22 03:41:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8271301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ai_hao/pseuds/plincess_cho
Summary: Yunho comes home from Jihye's wedding rehearsal and wonders about his own future.





	

Changmin rereads the same sentence for a fifth time before giving up. He blinks to clear the sleep out of his eyes and hauls himself off the couch, leaving the pages of the drama script scattered across the coffee table. He walks over to the kitchen and makes himself another cup of tea. The clock reads one o’clock and he suppresses a yawn with the back of his hand. He settles back on the couch and tries to read through the script again. If he’s staying up, he might as well do something productive.

Ten minutes later, he hears the jingle of keys in the lock before the door slowly pushes open. He looks up from the packet in his hands, trying hard to look nonchalant. “Hey,” he says softly.

“Hey. You’re still up?” Yunho gives him a weak smile but his voice conveys his tiredness. He tosses his keys into the bowl on the counter and goes to hang his jacket up in the closet.

“Mmm,” Changmin murmurs in reply. He holds up the script with one hand and says simply, “Script reading.” He doesn’t mention that they won’t even start readthroughs for at least another week or that he hasn’t actually been able to concentrate.

“Nice,” Yunho says. For a moment, he looks about to head back to his room to pass out, but instead he opens the refrigerator and pulls out a beer. He walks over to where Changmin is sitting, and Changmin clears off the script sheets so Yunho can sit down on the couch next to him. “How did it go?”

“Couldn’t have been better,” Yunho says as he pops the top off the bottle, but his voice doesn’t hold the same warmth and excitement it usually does. “The ceremony is going to be lovely, and Jihye couldn’t be happier. There were a few kinks they still needed to work out, but that’s why you always have a wedding rehearsal before the actual thing.”

“Yeah,” Changmin says. He takes another sip of his tea. “I bet your sister’s antsy to finally tie the knot.”

“Ohh yes,” Yunho says. “Though frankly, I don’t know how who’s more excited between her and my mom. My mom’s besides herself that she finally gets to have a wedding for one of her own kids instead of attending those of her friends’ children.”

_Oh._

Yunho takes a swig of beer before setting the bottle back on the coffee table and leaning back against the couch. He sets his hands on his knees and looks up at the ceiling, trying to find the words. He takes a deep breath and says, “All of her friends have grandchildren, and most of Jihye’s friends are already married. A few of them who came to help set up everything brought their kids.”

“I bet you liked that,” Changmin replies.

Yunho chuckles. “I spent half the night being ordered around by a three-year-old. You would’ve hated it.”

“That I would have,” Changmin says.

Yunho reaches for his beer again and takes another swig, his face already starting to flush. “Jihye looked really happy,” he says quietly. “She and her fiancé could hardly keep their eyes off each other the entire night.”

Changmin doesn’t reply. He just sets the drama script on the floor, giving up any pretense of actually trying to read. He sips at his tea and waits for Yunho to continue.

“I’m happy for her,” Yunho says after another sip of beer. “She’s wanted to get married for awhile, and he seems like a really good guy. I’m sure they’ll be really happy together, and that’s all I could ask for.” He heaves a sigh and doesn’t say anything for a few moments. He takes a few more drinks of beer while Changmin nurses his tea. Suddenly, Yunho turns to him and asks, “Do you ever wonder if we’ll get married?”

 _If._ Up until now, it had always been when. _Changminnie, do you ever wonder when we’ll get married? Maybe I’ll get married after enlistment. When I get married, I hope we won’t delay having children. My mother will be so happy when I get married._ But now there’s an if. _If we’ll get married. If I’ll make my parents proud. If I’ll give them grandchildren. If I’ll find my true love to spend the rest of my life with._

Changmin has to admit, he hardly thinks about marriage. Sure he thinks about it sometimes. He thinks about it when he attends the weddings of his childhood friends. He thinks about it when Kyuhyun is drunk and talks incessantly about meeting his destiny on the subway. He thinks about it when his grandparents remind him that he’s the first eldest grandson in four generations and has to carry on the family name. And he won’t admit it to anyone, but he thinks about it late at night when he’s alone in their apartment thinking about what he’ll do when this time in his life comes to an end. But aloud he says, “Sometimes.”

They’ve talked about this before. Yunho had initially wanted to get married before he turned thirty. He and Donghae used to talk about it all the time back in the earlier days of DBSK. But then they’d gotten busy with idol life and never really had many chances to date, let alone even think about getting married. Once Sungmin announced his impending marriage and half the Super Junior fans threatened to mutiny, the others had all realized that maybe they wouldn’t be able to do the same.

By now, the bottle in Yunho’s hand is nearly empty and his cheeks are a bright shade of pink, the same shade they always turn after he ingests any amount of alcohol. “Don’t get me wrong,” he says, “I wouldn’t give up any of the life I have now for the world. I love performing and acting and being onstage and of course you,” he slips it in like he has to remind Changmin of what he tells him nearly everyday, “but sometimes, I wonder what life would be like if…”

“If we weren’t idols, living completely normal lives?” Changmin finishes for him. They’ve had this discussion too. Changmin remembers remembers confiding in Yunho that the mysterious appointments he had weren’t plastic surgery consultation but instead therapy sessions to deal with his anxiety. Yunho had hugged him tightly and commended him for having the courage to seek help. _It’s okay,_ he’d said. _This isn’t something you should be expected to handle on your own. We’re not living normal lives, Changdola. It’s okay. Get the help you need._

“Yeah,” Yunho replies before sighing and chugging the rest of his beer. He sets the bottle down and leans back against the couch.

Changmin wants to reassure him that this will pass, that he’s only feeling this way because it’s late, and that things will get better. Because that’s what Yunho would say to him. Yunho would pat his leg and say, _Don’t worry, Changdola! Things will all be okay and someday you’ll meet the love of your life and get married and live next door to me. You’re so handsome and smart and…_ Good ol’ Yunho, always ready with an encouraging word and a smile. But Changmin’s not like that, has never been like that. “You’re born alone and you die alone.” That’s his mantra, or had been his mantra before he’d met Jung Yunho.

Before he’d met Jung Yunho and realized that maybe having a life partner wasn’t so bad: someone to share all of life’s moments with, someone who understood him better than he understood himself at times, someone who could just _sense_ what he was thinking or feeling before he even said it. Someone like Yunho who was always there whether Changmin wanted him to be or not.

So Changmin, master of feelings and sensitivity, says, “Don’t worry, hyung, it’ll happen someday. You’re a great guy because you’re really… y’know… great…” his voice trails off and he feels his ears starting to turn red. “And stuff,” he finishes finally.

Yunho raises an eyebrow. “Thanks,” he says, and then gives Changmin a smile. Yunho leans against Changmin and reaches an arm up to give one of Changmin’s ears a gentle tug. “At least I still have you, right?”

“Yup,” Changmin snorts. “Just me, your ol’ chopped liver life partner.”

Yunho pats Changmin and laughs. “I don’t really care for chopped liver. What if we made you kimchi instead?”

“Why, because I’m sour and an acquired taste?” Changmin retorts, but his words are without heat.

“Yep,” Yunho replies matter-of-factly. “You also go great in soup.” He wriggles around on the sofa so he’s lying with his head on Changmin’s thighs and his feet on the armrest of the sofa. He folds his arms across his chest like he does when he’s about to sleep and closes his eyes with a self-satisfied grin on his face.

Changmin briefly considers pushing Yunho’s head off and sets his hand on Yunho’s forehead to do so, but decides to be nice. They sit there awkwardly for a moment before Changmin spots something in Yunho’s fringe and picks out a piece of confetti, presumably for the wedding party.

“Mm,” Yunho murmurs. “That feels nice.”

“This?” Changmin says and starts raking his fingers through Yunho’s fringe. Yunho just nods in reply and lets Changmin’s fingers continue to stroke his scalp. He nestles his head more comfortably against Changmin’s thigh and hums softly. “You’re like a cat, hyung,” Changmin remarks. “A large, over-sized cat.”

But Changmin continues stroking Yunho’s hair anyways, pushing his fringe away from his forehead and back again. His hair light brown, but Changmin can see the dark roots already growing back in. Changmin pushes his fringe up one more time and wonders if Yunho’s hairline has always been this high or if this is a new development.

“Is my forehead breaking out?” Yunho asks, his eyes still closed.

“No,” Changmin says, letting the hair fall back down. “Just checking your receding hairline.”

Yunho pouts. “It’s not _that_ bad,” he remarks.

“It’s definitely noticeable,” Changmin replies. “Mine’s receded too unfortunately. I guess we really are growing old together.”

Yunho’s body grows rigid and he doesn’t reply right away. He opens his eyes and looks up at Changmin for a long moment before saying softly, “Yeah, I guess we are growing old.” A pause. He closes his eyes again and relaxes back against Changmin’s lap before adding, _“Together.”_


End file.
